Coe offense too much for Storm

INDIANOLA - Brendan Leiran ran for 157 yards, Brad Boyle accounted for five touchdowns and No. 16 Coe beat Simpson, 42-21 Saturday afternoon at Buxton Stadium.

Coming into the game with the nation's 18th-ranked offense, the Kohawks (6-1, 3-4 IIAC) generated 438 yards against Simpson, including 198 on the ground. Leiran - the conference's leading rusher - ran for 123 yards in the first half. Boyle threw for 240 yards and three scores, running for two more.

Coe built an 21-0 advantage and led 28-7 at intermission.

With the early deficit, the Storm (1-7, 1-5 IIAC) and quarterback Taylor Nelson took to the air often. The freshman threw for a season-high 273 yards on 26 of 44 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions, hooking up with Brad Vogel seven times for 91 yards. A 47-yard touchdown strike from Nelson to Vogel early in the fourth quarter brought Simpson within two touchdowns at 35-21.

Ben Coy, Taylor Rogers and Billy Weathers all had five catches for Simpson in the team's best offensive output of the season, as the Storm gained 342 yards.

Coe put together 79 and 82-yard scoring drives in taking a 14-0 lead, with Boyle plunging in from a yard out before finding Leiran on a 15-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. Boyle completed 15 of 21 passes the day.

A fumbled option exchange between Nelson and Chia on the ensuing drive gave Coe the ball at Simpson's 22, setting up a 5-yard Leiran jaunt with 10 minutes 27 seconds to play in the second quarter.

Simpson got on the board at the 6:30 mark in the second, when Nelson lobbed a fade pass for Rogers in the corner of the end zone from six yards out. Rogers hauled in the acrobatic catch, making the score 21-7.

Twice Simpson came within 14 points in the second half, but each score was met with an answer from Coe. Chia's third-quarter touchdown brought Simpson within 28-14, and the Storm had momentum after forcing a pair of Kohawk punts. But Simpson failed to convert on a fourth-and-short from its own 41 yard line, setting up Coe's final scoring drive.

Simpson had two more first downs (20-18) than Coe and held one of the nation's best offenses below its season average of 465 yards per game. Mark Cronin made eight tackles to lead Simpson, while Braden Everding, Justin Perry and JJ Nair each had a sack.

Coe got to the quarterback five times, led by Nate Clear's two sacks and three hurries.

Simpson hits the road next week when it travels to Mt. Vernon to face Cornell in a 1 p.m. kickoff.